A Fine Balance

My extended weekend is starting to feel too long. Though I should be cherishing my precious hours- hours which should be spent on work, I stroll around in idleness, lamenting the trivialities of life. That's not going to change any time soon, I suppose.

Waking up past noon has that effect on you- I felt as if I were robbed of my day. I have been awake for less than 2 hours- yet half my day has disappeared. If I had gotten up early, I would have had more time- but I did choose to sleep at three. The reason? I was reading a... (peculiar? Is that the word I want to use?) book that I had wanted to finish before going to bed. That way I could wake up with a clear head and start my analysis.

The title of the novel is the title of this entry: A Fine Balance. It describes the impacts of the political changes in India during the years of the Emergency; specifically from the lower class' point of view. It was anything but pleasant. Unlike my overly emotionally sympathetic friend (who I dearly love), however, I did not cry seven times. In fact, I don't remember crying at all. Strangely, even sadness was absent. Not that I'm an unfeeling statue or anything- I just didn't think the novel was particularly sad. It was more like a series of grotesque events pieced together, and what had formed was perhaps a little too bizarre for my cognitive empathy to interpret.

I kept a list of events which had happened in the novel, which I found particularly disturbing. One of my friends had commented that it was something that only I would do--- and I heartily agree. Being the wonderful person I am, I'll share the list with you, so you know what happens in this book without having to suffer the process of reading the entire 614 page novel like I did.

A Fine Balance: All the nasty scenes

1.  Nusswan (Dina’s brother) squeezing Dina’s nipples
2.  Ishvar’s mother getting raped in a field
3.  Narayan was hung upside down, naked. He was flogged and hot coal was applied to his mouth and genitals. Then they dragged his body back to his family and burnt his family.
4.  Maneck’s classmate masturbating against him at boarding school
5.   Maneck being stripped naked in and shoved in a refrigerator. He took a dump in there. After they let him out he was forced to ejaculate in front of them.
6.  Tikka (the dog) eats the two monkeys. Apparently Monkey-man has sex with his monkeys.
7. Monkey-man slits Tikka’s throat in front of an “altar”. He now lives with 2 small children.
8. Ashraf (an old tailor) is killed in a marquee. 
9. Om and Ishavar forced to undergo vasectomies with half-sterilized equipment.
10. Om is castrated after his operation, under the pretense of him having testicular cancer.
11. Ishvar and Om become beggars, with Om dragging Ishvar around. Ishvar had his legs amputated due to surgical complications. Om had become fat, possibly due to the hormonal imbalance after his castration.
12. Maneck steps off the platform at the railway station, committing suicide.

Nasty plot, is it not? (Heh, that rhymed.) The names may be confusing, but you get the general gist. Most of my friends found the castration scene to be the worst, but to me the most pitiable character was Monkey-man (no. 7). The 2 small children were his sister's, and they were taken away from him. The children had their hands cut off and their eyes blinded, then they were sent out to beg. Their physical deformities attracted greater monetary sympathy. I had felt and understood the hollowness in Monkey-man's character- being emotionally dependent on everything he could attach himself to, yet having all of those taken away from him. 

Anyway, so that I don't stand out in the crowd as the only person who was not overly-disgusted at the castration scene, I went back and re-read it. It was alright, really. The tone of this novel is very detached, as if it were merely recounting a series of events. I blame this for my general lack of emotion towards this novel.  And I don't really see why the castration scene was any worse than all the other scenes. Sure it symbolised a loss of manhood, but I think it was more the fact that it dealt with a sensitive region that people make a greater fuss over it. At least he was anesthetized when he was castrated. 

Being who I am, I looked up "effects of castration" on the internet. It turned up with images. That was kind of repulsive, but my curiosity overcame that with ease. That has been my entertainment for the past 10 minutes, reading a journal on the effects of castration. 

http://jcem.endojournals.org/content/84/12/4324.full

Disclaimer: The above link contains material similar to those I read on a daily basis, out of amusement. I only left it there to satisfy your curiosity, follow the link at your own discretion. I take no responsibility for your condition, physical or psychological, as a result of reading the article.

That being said, it is from a legitimate journal. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. Oh... btw, there are images there. Nothing too upsetting, but then again--- perhaps our definitions of "upsetting" are slightly varied.

In summary I'd say A Fine Balance was a rather... satisfying read. Not many would agree with me, I guess. I can't say I enjoyed the experience, because this is not the type of novel I would voluntarily read. However, it is good literature, and I am ultimately glad to have read something like this. It makes you more refined as a person, in my opinion. 

So go ahead and read the novel if you have time. The author's won a multitude of literary awards, so at least you will have read something famous...ish. It is apparently "A masterpiece of illumination and grace. Like all great fiction, it transforms our understanding of life."